The colors and culture of Mexico will be on display during a Dia de los Muertos celebration in the Arts Park in downtown Allentown on Sunday from 2:30 until 7:30 p.m.
Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) is a traditional Mexican holiday that honors the deceased. The event will be held in partnership with Interlace Cultural y Desarrollo Integral Mexicano de Lehigh Valley and The Baum School of Art, and it will be an opportunity for families to enjoy music, dance, and cultural celebration.
The event will feature authentic mariachi music by Magic Voice Mariachi and traditional and popular music by a D.J. It will also include cultural performances, showcases by children, storytelling, pinatas, and a Catrinas procession.
Guests are invited to dress in their most creative Catrina attire for the chance to win prizes.
Vendors for the celebration will be limited to local, authentic Mexican businesses and organizations.
Charter Arts haunted house
The Lehigh Valley Charter High School for the Arts (Charter Arts) will present its “Echoes” Haunted House from 6 to 8 p.m. on Saturday.
In this walk-through haunted house, a forest garners attention after some mysterious incidents begin to occur. Hikers and travelers who’ve entered have reported hearing whispers in their ears for days after exiting the woods. Those who’ve ventured deep into the forest have not returned. Rumors about what or who is living in the forest have attracted curious explorers seeking something supernatural.
The creative concept along with the costume design, set design, set construction, video, and sound design are produced by production arts students.
Tickets cost $8 and can be purchased online or at the door. The attraction is rated PG-13 for violent themes.
Comedy at Muhlenberg College
Muhlenberg College Theatre and Dance Department will stage a play described as a hilarious hybrid of Monty Python and Sherlock Holmes at Baker Theatre, which is located at 2400 Chew St. in Allentown.
“The Play That Goes Wrong” was written in 2012 by Henry Lewis, Jonathan Sayer, and Henry Shields of Mischief Theatre Company. It opened in 2014 in London and won best new comedy at the 2015 Laurence Olivier Awards. It opened on Broadway in 2017.
In the play, the Cornley University Drama Society is putting on a performance of “The Murder at Haversham Manor,” a 1920s murder mystery. It is opening night, and things are quickly going from bad to utterly disastrous.
Everything that can go wrong does, from an unconscious leading lady, a corpse that can’t play dead, and actors who trip over everything (including their lines).
Undeterred, the accident-prone thespians battle against all odds to make it through to their final curtain call, with hilarious consequences.
Audiences are warned there are gunshots, flames, smoke effects, loud noises, and sound effects, and general mayhem from beginning to end.
The show is directed by Jim Van Valen.
Tickets cost $20 for adults and $10 for students.
Performances will be at 8 p.m. on Thursday and Friday, at 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. on Saturday, and at 2 p.m. on Sunday.
Quartet at Williams Center
Williams Center for the Arts at Lafayette College in Easton will present the Isidore String Quartet as part of its performing arts series at 8 p.m. on Saturday.
The quartet approaches music as a “playground,” harnessing the gloriously vital tradition of the string quartet to inspire others, impact the world in which we live, and celebrate the art of collaboration and play.
The name Isidore recognizes the ensemble’s musical connection to the Juilliard Quartet. One of that group’s early members was legendary violinist Isidore Cohen. The 2022 Banff International String Quartet Competition winners, Isidore String Quartet cultivates joyful, accessible, and intimate experiences that create community through in-depth relationships and explore the power of the collective to uplift the individual.
Tickets cost $33 for adults and $6 for students.
There will be a performance and a question-and-answer session at 11 a.m. on Saturday.
The quartet’s members will share their musical journey, play some pieces, and answer questions about their career, music, and more. That event is free and open to the public. Students can take their instruments.
Pigeon musical at Zoellner
A musical based on the popular books by Mo Willems — “Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus! The Musical!” — will be presented at noon on Saturday at Baker Hall, which is located at the Zoellner Arts Center on the campus of Lehigh University in Bethlehem.
With a script written by Willems, the creator of the number-one New York Times best-selling Caldecott Honor award-winning “Pigeon” picture books, and featuring music by Deborah Wicks La Puma (“Elephant & Piggie’s We Are in a Play!”), TheaterWorksUSA’s “Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus! The Musical!” is fun for the whole family.
It’s not easy being the pigeon. It never gets to do anything, but when the bus driver has a crisis that threatens to make her passengers late, maybe the wily bird can do something.
The show runs 60 minutes with no intermission.
Tickets cost $18 for adults and $12 for students.
‘A Night of Fright’ in Exeter
Reading Civic Readers Theatre will present a special evening of entertainment with “A Night of Fright” at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday at the Fox East Complex, which is located at 4350 Perkiomen Ave. in Exeter Township, Berks County.
Charles J. Adams III
The evening will feature the reading of stories written by renowned ghost story author and personality Charles J Adams III. On a dark, stark stage, talented actors will read creepy tales adapted from Adams’ books about haunted people, places, and things in and around Berks County.
There will be no costumes, props, or backdrop. There will be only words, read by seasoned performers.
Consider it a “theater of the mind,” a form of entertainment that dates to the ancient Greek myths and dramas and was propagated and presented by the likes of Seneca, Goethe, Dickens, Poe, Twain, and O’Neill.
The readers will be Debbie Bowman, Angela DeAngelo, Keith Bortz, Betsy Chapman, Samantha Grinage, Jeff Yoder, Joanne Agrian Mercer, and Nadine Poper. They will be introduced by Kevin Adams.
All proceeds support the work of the Reading Civic Theatre.
Tickets cost $17.
Diwali celebration in Bethlehem
(c) Rajib Baruah
The Indian American Association of the Lehigh Valley invites the public to join it for a magical evening of light, laughter, and culture at its annual IAALV Diwali Celebration 2025 from 2 to 7:30 p.m. on Saturday at Broughal Middle School, which is located at 114 West Morton St. in Bethlehem.
The afternoon will be filled with cultural performances, delicious Indian cuisine, music, dance, and community spirit, a true celebration of light over darkness and togetherness over distance.
The program will feature tea and snacks for socializing at 2 p.m.; a showcase of talents at 3 p.m.; and dinner of both vegetarian and non-vegetarian foods at 7:30 p.m.
Tickets cost $40 for adults and $30 for children.
Family band concert
Allentown Band will present its 2025 family concert “Universe at an Exhibition” at 2 p.m. on Saturday at Miller Symphony Hall in Allentown.
The concert will consist of a live performance of Russian composer Modest Mussorgsky’s “Pictures at an Exhibition,” accompanied by a high-definition science film produced specifically for Mussorgsky’s masterwork.
The band is conducted by Ronald Demkee.
The presentation will connect astronomy, photography, and music to enhance understanding. The award-winning film features images, animations, and science visualizations from NASA, the European Space Agency (ESA), the National Center for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA), as well as historical illustrations aimed at encouraging audiences to learn more about the music and the universe.
The performance will include an introduction by Emmy-nominated astronomer José Francisco Salgado, who works as an astronomer and science visualizer at the Adler Planetarium in Chicago. He collaborates with symphony orchestras, concert bands, composers, and electronic and chamber musicians to present films that provoke curiosity and a sense of wonder about the Earth and the universe.
Tickets cost $5.